Turkey detains 5 over migrant truck crash that killed 22

AFP  |  Istanbul 

Turkish authorities on Monday detained five people in connection with a deadly migrant truck accident in which 22 people were killed, reports said.

Among those detained were three Syrians, state-run agency said. The Turkish driver, who survived the crash, was also detained, DHA agency reported.

There was no immediate information on the charges against them although it was likely some of the detainees were suspected people smugglers who often take thousands of dollars from migrants to arrange logistics.

The truck was travelling on a highway near airport when it swerved off the road early on Sunday and plunged into a river channel.

The migrants, who had several inflatable dinghies with them, were reportedly heading for the coast to try and reach Greece's Thirteen people were injured in the crash.

is a key transit point for migrants from troubled countries in the Middle East, and seeking a new life in

A million migrants crossed from into in 2015, mostly by boat, in a crisis which forced a deal between and the EU to stem the flow of people.

Numbers have since fallen but people are still making the highly-perilous journey and the flow has ticked up this year from 2017.

Last week, eight migrants were found drowned off the district, also in province, after their boat capsized. Twenty-six others are still officially listed as missing after that accident.

Eleven people also died in northern on Saturday in a head-on collision between a truck and a car thought to be carrying migrants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, October 15 2018. 19:40 IST